As he folowed the humans into the bar, he noticed the rather strange way the humans around them acted. It seemed so irrationall, and yet all around him humans where happily consuming vast amount of poison, and cheering at a monitor. Taking a seat next to Matt, he decided to ask

"So, human males actually enjoy drinking mind adling toxins, while watching other humans exersice? And what's the point of all this cheering at a, eh, TV?"

“What do you expect?” Titel rhetorically asked his fellow Jabric. “This sPecies are so primitive I’m surprised they don’t still eat each other.” An Alcoholic beveraged was placed in front of him and he looked down at it then looked at the Irish Human. “Any chance I could get something other than fermented vegetable products?”
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Dianne was shocked to hear such a personal question from the he/she Jabric, but then again she shouldn’t have been as Ishi had been more than a little intrusive since it arrived. “Excuse me!” She exclaimed to the Jabric with the male appearance. “That’s not the kind of question you just come out and ask in such a public place.”

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Originally Posted by writer

Jaiera came out of the dressing room finally, with a puzzled look on her face. "It's so... tight," she confessed in a hushed whisper to Ishi. "It's like a second skin, practically." She shot a worried look to Dianne and asked, "Do you humans wear this sort of thing? Really?"

“Unless you’re trying to look like a waitress at Hooters I’d go a couple of sizes bigger.” She answered the Alien. “I mean how’d you even get that on?”

Jaiera blushed and turned to go back to the dressing room. From what she'd gathered, 'Hooters' was not an admirable place to work. Definitely not the image she wanted to be portraying to the world. She tried on a few more things, before settling on an outfit she thought might be considered 'cute'. Then, she emerged once more, wearing the new outfit to display.

By human standards, it worked very nicely. She was wearing a pair of jeans, not too tight (which she now associated with 'Hooters'), but not too baggy either (which she'd learned was a sort of anti-social, anti-fashion statement). Thanks to Dianne, the shirt she'd chosen was not skin-tight. To complete the outfit, she'd chosen black, zip-up boot-shoes with a quarter-inch heel; and a brown suede jacket.

Just as she was about to ask what her companions thought of the outfit, a loud beeping sounded from the nearby door. Someone had tried their hand at shoplifting, but the clothing item had a tag on it, which had set off the alarm. Jaiera winced and turned to Dianne.

"So... how do we get out without... that going off?" she asked nervously.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Originally Posted by mur'phon

"So, human males actually enjoy drinking mind adling toxins, while watching other humans exersice? And what's the point of all this cheering at a, eh, TV?"

Matt smiled faintly. "Can't say I've ever really understood it much myself. I mean, watching sports is kinda fun... not like I'll ever be in good enough physical shape to participate, so watching's the next best thing... and they're cheering for the team they want to win the game..."

"What do you expect?” Titel rhetorically asked his fellow Jabric. “This species are so primitive I’m surprised they don’t still eat each other.” An Alcoholic beverage was placed in front of him and he looked down at it then looked at the Irish Human. “Any chance I could get something other than fermented vegetable products?”

Matt chuckled, and was about to answer when his phone rang. With a puzzled frown, he excused himself from the bar and headed outside to answer it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"They've accelerated," Kayla observed. Logan nodded and Kayla ran some numbers through a program on the computer that monitored Hubble. "They'll crash down within the hour."

"Can we pick out their trajectory yet?" Logan asked. "Where will they hit?"

"Umm..." Kayla murmured, using the program on the computer to factor in the turn of the earth combined with the speed of the Trackers' descent. She paled. "Oh..."

"Where?" Logan pressed.

"Interstate 84, roughly," Kayla answered grimly. "Less than a mile from the mall."

They got on their phones. Only a few minutes later, they got off.

"Still say to wait," Logan said. Kayla shook her head.

"Mine are saying to warn Matt," she said. Logan nodded and Kayla got on her phone again. Matt's was busy...

"So... how do we get out without... that going off?" Jaiera asked nervously.

Ishi stepped forward and held up a small plastic card. "We use the credit card," she announced. "I've been observing the procedure." She motioned for Jaiera to come with her to the counter where one of the shop assistants stood near the register.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to purchase these items for my friend," Ishi said, sporting a charming smile. She handed the girl the credit card. "With this."

The girl smiled at Ishi, who looked 110% male to her, and coyly said, "Sure thing, hon." She eyed Jaiera. "So, does your 'friend' want to wear those home," she said, referring to Jaiera's new outfit, "or should I put them in a bag for you?"

Pallax crossed her arms as she observed Ishi and Jaiera interact with the human salesperson. The two younger Jabrics seemed to be assimilating into human culture easily enough, but Pallax knew that the process would not be so easy for her. A career soldier all her life, she'd been taught how to take action and get things done from a military perspective and she was exceedingly good at that. This fact made traipsing around in human skin just a little bit more irritating, but like all good soldiers, Pallax had a lot of patience and discipline. She just hoped that those wouldn't be tested too much.

As they stepped out of the store, she heard Ishi query Dianne, "What are 'hotties'? And can we try some?"

"I do not think you should," Pallax told Ishi. "At least not until they have been verified as non-toxic to Jabric physiology. The humans have already demonstrated a very...unique style of cuisine." She hoped her attempt at being diplomatic was heard. "So until we can verify the composition, characteristics and measurement of these 'hotties', I must recommend you hold off."

"Look at that!" Ishi excitedly pointed towards one of the shops in the food court. In the display window, was a giant, chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a big heart, with the words 'I love you, Sally' written on it with thick, white icing. "It's huge!" She turned to the others, more so Dianne. "Who's Sally? A local celebrity?"

Odrimae looked down at the table as one of the same drinks offered to Titel was given to him. Normally, he would have much rather watched the surrounding humans to gain a further understanding of their culture and behaviour, but he didn't want to offend. So, he took a small sip of the drink ("fermented vegetable products" he agreed), and... liked it. Odrimae took another small sip, and then another.

Then he coughed. This would make him- what was the word? Drunk. He could almost feel himself become slightly affected by the substance, and he prudently wondered what and Earth drink designed to make humans lightheaded and irrational would do to his species.

He next directed his attention to the "TV'', at a particularly noisy cheer from some of the bystanders. It seemed humans were exceptionally drawn into the viewing of other humans attacking each other to try and gain possession of a small brown object. On another TV, nearly naked humans were attacking each other as well in a rectangular stage. Barbaric, he muttered, although he was rather interested.

"Do all your sports involve some kind of violence?" He quietly asked Matt, who had just dropped his communication device.

“A hottie is a term used by some men to describe women they find physically attractive, it isn’t a food.” She informed shaking her head slowly.

Dianne looked down at the heart shaped cookie and then back up at Ishi “No the Cookie is an example.” She explained. “It’s so men will buy this cookie and give it to there loved one with their name on it… It’s suppose to be romantic, although if you ask me it’s just tacky.”

“A hottie is a term used by some men to describe women they find physically attractive, it isn’t a food.” She informed shaking her head slowly.

"Oh."

Dianne looked down at the heart shaped cookie and then back up at Ishi “No the Cookie is an example.” She explained. “It’s so men will buy this cookie and give it to there loved one with their name on it… It’s suppose to be romantic, although if you ask me it’s just tacky.”

Ishi thought a moment, then nodded as if understanding. "Marketing technique," she said, but then frowned. "So, Dianne, are you saying that sharing food isn't a part of the dynamics of the human pair-bonding experience? Or are you saying that you personally don't specifically approve the use of giant chocolate chips cookies in that respect?"

Ishi eyed Dianne critically. "Because I was under the impression that most females of your species enjoyed meals as part of the pair-bonding ritual--candlelight dinners, boxes of chocolate confectionaries, and all the articles I've read about how unusual, but highly desireable, for females to have a male suitor that could use food preparation equipment. Have I misinterpreted the information? If so, I would gladly like some tuition in that area, as it seems that everything you humans do revolves around the issue in some way or another. It's very important that we... I undersand this. Otherwise," Ishi leaned in closer to Dianne to speak in a lower tone, "I fear there might be other social 'mistakes' that we will make that will give us away. Especially if Hunters might well be searching for us."

“I don’t know how things work where y’all come from, but here on earth all women are different. Yeah, it’s common for a Man to do the whole Romantic Dinner and Chocolates thing here in the U.S. but in other cultures things work differently and some of us women here in the USA are not charmed by all that Romantic Stuff.” The Scientist explained best she could to the Alien. “You’ll do better fitting in if you avoid ‘human courting ritual’ anyway, cos no one really fits in.”